Steven Chu, Nobel laureate and head of the Lawrence Berkeley national laboratory, appears headed for fast Senate approval as energy secretary. At a Jan. 13 hearing, Senate energy committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said he backs Chu. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) expects Chu to be approved. Chu said he’s committed to defense-site cleanup and that it “makes good sense” to have cleanup aid in a stimulus bill.

The congressionally authorized Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction on Jan. 13 released a final audit of southern Iraqi oil-sector reconstruction by Kellogg Brown & Root Services Inc. for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. KBR was working under a competitive, $1.2-billion-maximum contract awarded in January 2004. Due to modifications, often for government convenience, the end cost was $722.3 million. The audit says a lack of security, as well as poor pre-war maintenance by the Iraqis, drove up task-order costs. It says although the Iraqi government now has better facilities than before the war, “it is likely” the value of

Senators from both parties showed enthusiastic support for Rep. Hilda Solis, President-elect Obama’s choice to be Labor Secretary, at the California Democrat’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Jan. 9. Although committee Republicans said they might disagree with Solis on key issues, such as the scope of the Davis-Bacon Act, several signaled probable support her confirmation. Solis says creating ‘green’ jobs leads her agenda. “I intend to vote for you,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). The panel’s ranking GOP member, Michael Enzi (Wyo.), said that even though some Republicans and Solis might have “very

The Supreme Court is delving into a case that could decide whether hard-rock mine operators legally may pump metal waste directly into lakes and rivers rather than man-made settlement ponds. In 2007 an appellate court ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers lacked authority under the Clean Water Act to issue a permit to an Alaska company to pump 4.5 million tons of rock waste into a lake near Juneau. During oral arguments on Jan. 12 before the high court, attorneys for environmental group Earthjustice argued the Environmental Protection Agency has tougher requirements governing mining waste than does the Corps.

In the latest chapter in the ongoing tri-state battle over use of the Apalachicola- Chattahoochee-Flint River basin, the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 rejected a petition by Georgia and declined to review a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia relating to allocation of Lake Lanier. Negotiations between Florida, Georgia and Alabama over the use of the basin date back to the 1970s and have led to tristate litigation and intervention by the Secretary of the Interior. In February 2008, the federal appeals court struck down a 2003 agreement between the U.S. Army Corps

Several business organizations, including the Associated Builders and Contractors and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are challenging the Dept. of Homeland Security’s ‘E-Verify’ system that checks employees’ immigration status. They claim in a Dec. 23 lawsuit that the Bush administration unlawfully expanded the program. A June 9 executive order and subsequent DHS proposal made the formerly voluntary E-Verify program mandatory for all companies holding federal contracts of more than $3,000. DHS later raised the threshold to $100,000, but business groups still do not like the rule. Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the Chamber’s litigation center, says federal law “explicitly prohibits”

With the 111th Congress officially begun and President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration near, construction industry and state officials are hungering for details of the promised economic-stimulus plan. But it’s still uncertain how big the package will be, how much will go for infrastructure and how large the shares will be for highways, transit, water and other types of public works. “The economy is badly damaged. It is very sick,” Obama said on Jan. 5. He wants quick action on a stimulus measure, saying, “I expect to sign a bill to create 3 million jobs for the American people shortly after I

General Services Administration veteran Anthony E. Costa has been tapped to be acting commissioner of the agency’s Public Buildings Service. A 20-year GSA employee, Costa on Dec. 27 replaced David Winstead, who had led PBS since 2005. Winstead has returned to private law practice. George Kreis, senior vice president of Tompkins Builders, Washington, D.C., says of Costa, “He’s always been very fair to deal with and has been great at cutting red tape.”

Another chapter has closed in developer John Rapanos’ long legal battles over federal wetlands jurisdiction. In a settlement announced on Dec. 29 by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Dept., Rapanos and other defendants agreed to pay a $150,000 civil penalty and spend about $750,000 to re-create about 100 acres of wetlands and buffer areas at three Michigan sites. Federal officials say Rapanos put excavated dirt into wetlands with-out Clean Water Act authorization. Rapanos and co-defendants did not admit any wrongdoing. A related criminal case is pending. Rapanos had sued, arguing the Clean Water law did not cover the

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) has withdrawn from his nomination as Dept. of Commerce Secretary in President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet. In a Jan. 5 news conference, Richardson stated that an ongoing federal grand jury investigation into a state contract related to Governor Richardson’s Investment Partnership (GRIP) won by Beverly Hills, Calif.-based CDR Financial Products “would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process.” The investigation centers around a $1.48-million consulting contract CDR won in 2004 with the New Mexico Finance Authority, a state instrumentality that finances infrastructure projects by providing low-cost funds and technical assistance. CDR was part